Toy gun

ABSTRACT

An elongated slot is formed in the interior of a toy gun body and a relatively flat slide is movable within the slot. A recess is formed in one side of the slot, with yielding means such as an elastic band over the recess, and a marble positioned on top of the elastic band over the recess. A row of marble-engaging openings is formed in the flat slide, with each of the openings being smaller in diameter than the marble but large enough in diameter to permit a portion of the marble to project through the flat slide. A handle is attached to the flat slide and projects outside of the body in such a way that it can be grasped and pulled to move the marble-engaging openings over the marble. This causes the marble to snap into and out of the marble-engaging openings and produce a sequence of explosive sounds and vibrations simulating those of an automatic rifle or other weapon.

United States Patent 1 [451 Apr. 17,1973

[s41 TOY GUN [76] Inventor: Ernest F. pill, 866 North 14th Street,Manitowoc, Wis. 54220 221 Filed: Aug. 25, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 174,879

[52] [1.8. CI ..46/l75 [51 Int. Cl. ..A63h 5/00 [58] Field of Search..46/l75, 176, 192

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,394,821 2/ l 946 Teagarden..46/ I 92 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. Q.Lever AttorneyArthur L. Morsell, Jr. et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT An elongated slot is formed in the interior of a toy gun7 body and a relatively flat slide is movable withinthe slot. A recessis formed in one side of the slot, with yieldingmeans such as an elasticband over the recess,

and a marble positioned on top of the elastic band over the recess. Arow of marble-engaging openings is formed in the flat slide, with eachof the openings being smaller in diameter than the marble but largeenough in diameter to permit a portion of the marble to project throughthe flat slide. A handle is attached to the flat slide and projectsoutside of the body in such a way that it can be grasped and pulled tomove the marble-engaging openings .over the marble. This causes themarble to snap into and out of the marbleengaging openings and produce asequence of explosive sounds and vibrations simulating those of anautomatic rifle or other weapon.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PMEHFED M I 7 I913 F: A \\\\\w s IN VENTORERNEST F. DILL AT'TORNEYS 'IUY GUN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Manydifferent approaches have been used in designing noise-making toys thatsimulate weapons, but, except for cap guns and the like, none of theseapproaches have succeeded in producing a noise that is sufficientlysuggestive of a real weapon to satisfy children for very long.Accordingly one object of this invention is to provide a toy gun whichmakes a more realistic sound than heretofore found in the art andproduces a mild kickback effect.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy gun of theabove-noted character which is simple in structure and reliable inoperation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toy gun of theabove-noted character which utilizes readily available materials and isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, theabove-noted objects are attained by using a marble, an elastic band, anda series of marble-engaging openings in a flat slide plate as the basicnoise-making mechanism for a toy weapon. An elongated slot is formed inthe interior of a toy gun body and a relatively flat slide is movablewithin the slot. A recess is formed in one side of the slot, withyielding means in the recess, and a marble positioned between theyielding means and slide. A row of marble-engaging openings is formed inthe flat slide, with each of the openings being smaller in diameter thanthe marble but large enough in diameter to permit a portion of themarble to project through the flat slide. Means are provided for movingthe flat slide back and forth, which causes the marble to snap into andout of the marble-engaging openings and produce a sequence of explosivesounds and vibrations simulating those of an automatic rifle or otherweapon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view ofone illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3- 3 ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the figures, oneillustrative toy gun of this invention comprises a body which iscomposed of two matching sides 12 and 14 which, in the illustratedembodiment, are shaped to resemble an automatic rifle or the like. Thetwo sides 12 and 14 are preferably made of a suitable molded plastic andare attached to each other by any suitable means. An elongated slot 16is formed in the interior of the portion 14 of the body 10, and a flatslide 18, preferably made of a relatively rigid and tough plasticmaterial, is movable back and forth within the slot 16. The flat slide18 has a handle 20 projecting from the lower edge thereof which servesas a handle for moving the slide between the two positions indicated bydashed lines which correspond to abutment of the slide 18 against thetwo ends of slot 16. A recess 24 is formed in the body portion 14 incommunication with a portion of the slot 16. An elastic band 26 isattached to the body member 14 over the recess 24 and a marble 28 ispressed into the recess 24 and held there by pressure from the side ofslide 18. A row of marble-engaging openings 30, 32, 34, 36, and 38 isformed in the slide 18 and positioned to be in line with the marble 28.The marble-engaging openings 30-38 are smaller in diameter than themarble 28, but are large enough in diameter to permit a portion of themarble to project therethrough. In the position shown in the drawings,the elastic band develops a considerable force which constantly urgesthe marble to move toward the other side of the gun body. When the slide18 is moved from the position shown in the drawing, the marble ridesover the edge of the marble engaging opening 34 and then as the slidemoves forward drops into the next marble-engaging opening 32. The marginof each of the openings 30-38 which faces the marble is chamfered orrounded as at 40 in FIG. 3 so that an opening can be more readily movedinto and out of engagement with the marble.

When the marble moves from one opening to the other, the force of theelastic band causes it to make a clicking noise when it leaves the oneopening and a sharp, explosive noise when it enters the other openingthereby producing a combination of clicks and explosive sounds thatsimulate the noise of a real weapon as far as children are concerned.When the handle 20 is moved back and forth rapidly the resulting soundsimu Iates the operation of a sub-machine gun or automatic rifle, andthere is a simulated milk kickback effect. It should be mentioned thatthe noise produced by this invention does not sound like the explosionof a gun but rather that it makes a sound having a particular qualitythat realistically simulates the soundof a weapon in the context ofchildren's play.

In the modification of FIG. 4, instead of having elastic the yieldingmeans is a spring within the recess 24. A cup-shaped member 51 isslideable in the recess and receives the upper end of the spring. Thecup-shaped member may have a dished portion 52 to receive the lowerportion in the marble. When the gun is operated the spring 50 performsthe same function as the portion of the elastic band 26 which is overthe recess in FIG. 3.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this inventionprovides a toy gun which makes a more realistic sound than heretoforeknown in the art, and which utilizes readily available material and isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture. Although the invention has beenillustrated by description of one concrete embodiment, it should beunderstood that the invention is by no means limited to the disclosedembodiment since many modifications can be made in the disclosedstructure without altering the fundamental principles of operation. Alsothe novel features of the I present invention may readily be embodied inother weapons than rifles or in other noise-making toys. Accordingly,this invention includes all modifications and uses as may fall withinthe scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A noise-making toy comprising a body with opposed sides said bodyhaving an elongated slot formed therein between said sides, a relativelyflat slide movable within said slot, there being a recess in one side ofsaid body communicating with said slot on one side of said slide,yielding means associated with said recess, a marble having a portionpositioned in said recess between said yielding means and said fiatslide, and a row of marble-engaging openings formed in said slide andcommunicating with the side of the slide which is adjacent said marble,said marble-engaging openings being positioned to be moved in sequenceacross said marble when said flat slide is moved within said slot,thereby making an explosive noise.

2. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said marble-engagingopenings extends completely through the slide and is smaller in diameterthan said marble but large enough in diameter to allow a portion of saidmarble to project therethrough.

3. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein said body comprises two sidemembers which are joined together along a plane.

4. A toy as defined in claim 3 wherein said slot is coplanar with thejoint between the two sides of said body. I

5. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the yielding means is an elasticfabric band connected to the body over said recess and having amarble-engaging portion yielding projectible into the recess.

6. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the recess in the toy body isdeep enough to accommodate said marble as the marble snaps from oneslide opening to another.

1. A noise-making toy comprising a body with opposed sides, said bodyhaving an elongated slot formed therein between said sides, a relativelyflat slide movable within said slot, there being a recess in one side ofsaid body communicating with said slot on one side of said slide,yielding means associated with said recess, a marble having a portionpositioned in said recess between said yielding means and said flatslide, and a row of marble-engaging openings formed in said slide andcommunicating with the side of the slide which is adjacEnt said marble,said marble-engaging openings being positioned to be moved in sequenceacross said marble when said flat slide is moved within said slot,thereby making an explosive noise.
 2. A toy as defined in claim 1wherein each of said marble-engaging openings extends completely throughthe slide and is smaller in diameter than said marble but large enoughin diameter to allow a portion of said marble to project therethrough.3. A toy as defined in claim 1 wherein said body comprises two sidemembers which are joined together along a plane.
 4. A toy as defined inclaim 3 wherein said slot is coplanar with the joint between the twosides of said body.
 5. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the yieldingmeans is an elastic fabric band connected to the body over said recessand having a marble-engaging portion yieldingly projectible into therecess.
 6. A toy as defined in claim 1 in which the recess in the toybody is deep enough to accommodate said marble as the marble snaps fromone slide opening to another.